WWII vet's keepsakes return to Wausau

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks with paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division on June 5, 1944. Wausau native Bill Hayes is in the center of the photo, helmetless, behind Eisenhower's right hand.(Photo: Photo courtesy of National Archives)

WAUSAU — On the evening of June 5, 1944, Cpl. Bill Hayes of the 101st Airborne Division stood with thousands of fellow soldiers on an airfield in southern England, trying to keep his nerves in check.

In a matter of hours Hayes, a Wausau native and 1935 graduate of Wausau High School, would parachute into France, part of the initial airborne attack of the D-Day assault force on Europe on June 6. As Hayes would recount to the Fargo (N.D.) Forum newspaper years later, he was looking down, trying to figure out how to fasten all his equipment together, when he heard a voice ask, "Well, are you ready?"

"I said, 'Yeah, I guess so,' and looked up and there's Eisenhower," Hayes said. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme allied commander and strategist behind the Normandy invasion, was chatting with troops before the historic battle, and while Ike spoke with Hayes and the other paratroopers around him, an aide to the general took a photo. That picture would end up on the covers of national magazines such as Yank and Life and become one of the iconic images of the war.

After the war, Hayes would return to Wausau for a short period of time, working at Sears as he did before entering the Army. He would eventually get transferred to Fargo, N.D., and would work for the retailer for more than 30 years. He died in 2006.

On Thursday, significant pieces of memorabilia that Hayes kept throughout his life returned to Wausau, where they will become part of the Marathon County Historical Society's collection. They include a map and French and German language translation books that Hayes carried with him when he made the D-Day jump, a 1933 Wausau yearbook and a lifetime of articles, magazines and other information about the photo. A packet of letters Hayes wrote to his parents was also part of the donation.

Amateur historian and author Drew Dodds, 70, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, donated the pieces to the historical society. Dodds wrote about Hayes and the photo in his book "American Heroes Remembered,"and met Hayes three times. Hayes never had children. After he died, his widow Adeline Hayes gave the memorabilia to Dodds, and asked him to care for it. Dodds decided that the Marathon County Historical Society and Wausau was the best place for the items.

"This is where these things belong," Dodds said.

Buy Photo

Historian and author Drew Dodds shows a copy of Yank magazine that features a photo of Eisenhower with paratroopers, including Wausau native Bill Hayes.(Photo: Keith Uhlig/Gannett Central Wisconsin Media)

It isn't the first time that Dodds has donated a piece of Hayes history to a Wausau institution. In 2010, Dodds presented a collage including the famous photo, other pictures and Hayes military items to Wausau East High School.

The artifacts donated last week will preserve Hayes' story, which is Dodds' primary goal. Ben Clark, archivist for the Marathon County Historical Society, the first step the society will take is cataloging all the items.

"It's cool, that's for sure," Clark said looking through the mementos.

The pieces give insight into the person Hayes was.

"He was a popular guy in high school judging by the notes in his yearbook," Dodds said. "You know how today we use the word 'cool' to describe someone? Back then people were 'swell guys.' Bill was a swell guy. It's repeated in here (the yearbook) several times. He was quite the debater and quite the humorist. He was very witty."

By the time Dodds met Hayes, the veteran was debilitated by a serious stroke. But he never lost his sense of humor. During one of the Dodds' visits with Hayes at a senior care facility, a nurse asked Hayes, "So you jumped out of planes, did you?"

Hayes smiled, Dodds recounted, and said, "No. They pushed us out."

Keith Uhlig can be reached at 715-845-0651 or at keith.uhlig@gannettwisconsin.com. Find him on Facebook or on Twitter as @UhligK.